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NHL FaceOff 2001 Hands-On

We got a chance to play a near final version of 989 Sports' NHL FaceOff 2001, and it looks as though the game is coming together quite well.

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The game features gameplay modes: exhibition, season, tournament, practice, draft, and shootout. In the shootout mode, you can go one-on-one against the goalie in intense confrontations, while the draft mode lets you build your own teams to make a run for the Stanley Cup. The game will feature all 30 NHL teams, including the two expansion teams. It will also feature a "legends" team, whose roster consists of such past greats as Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, and Phil Esposito.

The controls of the game in its current state are fairly solid - they seem very responsive, and they're set up quite well. The face buttons let you shoot, check, and pass, while the shoulder buttons control icon passing and play calling. Stopping and changing your players' direction of travel is quick and easy without requiring any unnecessary momentum. The computer-controlled opponents' level of AI seems to greatly depend on their team and the game's difficulty setting. If you have the game set to normal and you're playing against the Dallas Stars, its fairly easy to score, since the computer opponents don't really instigate too much contact, nor do they set up on defense very quickly. When playing against an all-star team on the all-star difficulty setting, however, the computer seems to be way more aggressive and accurate in its execution.

Graphically, the game looks fairly impressive. The models used for the players are nicely built and boast a good amount of detail. The player models are made up of around 2,500 polygons each, and they feature facial textures that look like their real-life counterpart. The animations of the players skating, shooting, and checking are smooth and realistic. The animations of the players reeling in pain after they get smacked into the wall are particularly impressive. The game also has lots of penalty animations such as hooking, slashing, high-sticking, and elbowing

In the audio department, FaceOff 2001 seems very together. The commentary and play-by-play calls provided by Mike Emrick and Darren Pang are right on queue with the onscreen action, and they are not only informative, but they are also fairly entertaining. The roar of the crowd and accompanying sound effects also seem realistic. Also adding to the game's atmosphere are real song clips that are played between line changes and periods, such as Aretha Franklin's Respect.

So while we'll have to wait until we get a final version of the game before commenting any further, it's fair to say that it looks as though 989 Sports has put some time and effort into NHL FaceOff 2001. It will be interesting to see how the final version of the game comes together.

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